Hello everyone and welcome back to another chapter of Remembering an Old Friend! Thanks everybody for bringing the review count for this story to the magical number of 100! (And above...) All of you have made me happier than my bucket of ice cream ever could! XD I am not worthy! Well anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Some guy named Blaze, your review cracked me up xD thanks for the awesomeness!
Hello there An7! Or formerly, Andy-m! And yes, I am incredibly sorry about the last chapter's quality... but I will make it up! Probably... xD and as for my next story, I will let you figure out how my characters will be! Thanks for the review!
Hello parodyman64 and NOTparodyman64! Haha was is it really necessary for you to do that? Not that I'm complaining or anything xD. But thanks for the review!
Hmm, note to self... 180's surprise Brandon xD. Haha anyway thanks for the splendid review!
On to the chapter!
…
Last time on Remembering an Old Friend...
'Goodbye, Ash. I love you too.' Latias replied. They both hugged, and kissed each other for the last time. After their goodbyes, the Altomare group headed back to their island, leaving Brock, Ash, Misty, Delia, and James behind in Kanto.
'Why must this happen?...'
…
The whole entire trip back to Altomare was filled with the crying and sniffling sounds that Latias continuously uttered. Whenever the red eon seemed to calm down just a bit, the repetitive sounds of hiccups and sniffling returned in an instant. Everyone's support couldn't even keep Latias from crying for even a few moments; by the time they reached the island of Altomare, Latias' eyes were as red and puffy as ever. But on the bright side, seeing the sparkling ocean and feeling the gentle breeze of the vast sea comforted her to an extent.
"It's ok Latias, try to keep your invisibility up, we're almost at the garden." Bianca said in a low voice, rubbing the red eon's back as they descended through the clouds. Through most of the trip, Latias' hiccups had fluctuated her energy flow and caused her to become visible.
Ken quickly transformed into his human form, which looked exactly like the boy that his mother told him about; the incredible blue hue appeared around the blue dragon as its energy encircled Ken, and dissipated into thin air. The young boy scanned his surroundings for signs of anybody that happened to be passing by; everything seemed alright, but not exactly the way it should be...
The disguised dragon looked at what appeared to be nothing but thin air and nodded, giving the signal that there was no one in sight. A few moments passed as two distortions in the air slowly flew down and phased through the brick wall as Bianca came around the corner. "Jeez, this is really eating away at her..." Bianca worried as she played with her fingers in discomfort. The young boy said nothing as the two followed the distortions through the seemingly solid wall. "How are we going to hold Lorenzo's funeral now? She's already dealing with her depression, how can she survive through something like a funeral?" Bianca asked, the anxiety was detectable in her tone.
"We'll find a way." was all Ken said as they entered the garden. As the two walked down the short set of steps, the sound of their feet stepping on the grass was louder than usual. The only sounds heard in the garden were Latios and the whimpering of Latias' sorrows. The strange feeling from before returned to Ken's stomach, "What is this feeling?" the young boy pondered, expertly hiding his discomfort as he and Bianca approached the two eons. It was an unwelcoming presence, but it was all too familiar; it seemed to be coming from, underground? Must be some dark pokemon digging to their hearts content right?
'Please Latias, you have to calm down. You've been crying for hours!' Latios said, patting his sister's back. Not even being back home seemed to comfort the red eon for more than a few moments. 'It's not like you won't be able to talk to him ever again, Delia allowed for you two to be able to communicate, remember?' the blue eon reminded, desperately trying to cal Latias down. The sniffling red eon quieted down at hearing this, but she didn't speak a word after that. 'Are you feeling better, sis'?' Latios asked, relieved that Latias had stopped crying. The red eon didn't respond, she just flew up to Bianca's height and stayed silent.
"I'll be back, I'm going to drop your stuff off at your house, Bianca." Ken said flatly as he reluctantly turned away from Latias. Bianca thankfully nodded as the blue dragon transformed and flew away, heading toward his designation with a blank face. Ken's mind was blank throughout his flight, he only looked forward and kept on flying. It wasn't until the blue dragon had caught eye of the very same restaurant that he and his friends had eaten at that sparked his first thought. "I remember that place, that was where Ash made Latias so happy." Ken thought to himself, catching sight of Bianca's house a few hundred feet away.
The blue dragon dove into the backyard, handling Bianca's luggage with care as he placed the enormous bag on the hard concrete platform in front of the patio door. And at that moment Ken paused and attempted to slide the door open, but ended with no luck. "It's locked..." the blue dragon deadpanned as he sighed. Ken tried looking the the most cliché place possible, under the mat that lay on top of the concrete platform, and to Ken's luck, the silver house key was waiting for him.
"That was convenient." the blue dragon thought to himself as he looked up at the patio door. "There's no keyhole..." Ken deadpanned in his thoughts, becoming quite annoyed at this laborious task of getting into Bianca's home. The blue dragon quickly flew through the sided of the house and to the front door, begging that the key in his claw would open the door.
To Ken's luck, the key fit! And when he turned it, the door opened! Finally, after an annoying five minutes of slow, irritating, struggling, the blue dragon entered Bianca's quiet home. Ken looked to his right to find a container of some sort that held a few umbrellas. "It's the umbrellas that they used when Colette was here." Ken thought to himself, gently placing the bag down by the door.
"Didn't Latios say something about white umbrellas being warmer than black ones? Isn't it the other way around? Or did he say that black ones were warmer than white ones?" the blue dragon thought as he locked the door from the inside and left through the patio door. "Why does it feel like someone has changed that? Oh well, must be nothing." thought the blue dragon as he left Bianca's house.
…
"I hope she doesn't, you know, try to commit..." Bianca trailed off as silence settled in. Bianca and Latios were behind an enormous tree, spying on Latias who had flown away after Ken had left. Latios nodded his head, worried that his sister might commit that dreadful act once more. "I hope she's alright." Bianca sighed sadly as Latios placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. The two continued to spy on the red eon, Latias was swaying back and forth lifelessly on the swing that was attached to the enormous tree next to her. With each swing, Latias would stare at her reflection in the pond just a few feet in front of her.
Her crying had stopped, but now she was back to where she started, alone, sad, and most of all, she was being a burden to her friends. The only bright side to be spotted in Latias' situation was that she had some strength leftover from Latios' lecture to keep her from stooping down to what she used to be. "We should go Latios, I'm sure Latias wants to be alone, even is she can't see us, she can probably sense us." Bianca suggest, leaving her hiding spot as Latios followed.
As the two left, they heard footsteps coming from the entrance of the secret garden. 'That must Ken.' Latios spoke, breaking the temporary silence. They both walked toward the source of the footsteps to find a blue dragon entering the secret garden. They each greeted each other as Bianca quickly told Ken where Latias was and took him back to the tree that they were previously at. 'She's been like that ever since you left.' latios informed as he and Bianca let out a sigh of relief to see that Latias was still swinging and still alive. Ken gasped at the lifeless state of his friend. 'Why don't you go talk to her?' Latios suggested.
The blue dragon paused, "How could I possibly help her? Ash was the person that made her happy, not me." thought Ken, causing confusion among Latios and Bianca. "If no one else can cheer her up, what makes Latios think that I can?" the blue dragon thought to himself. It was quiet, nothing could be heard except the slight rustle of nearby bushes and that soft creaking sound of Latias' swinging. "Ok, I guess..." Ken said, reluctantly flying over to the swing. For some reason, the blue dragon was scared to go any further and stopped just a few feet away from the swinging Latias. He had no idea what was causing this but he took in a few deep breaths and continued flying. Bianca and Latios secretly watched from behind their tree; they felt as if they were watching the sad, quiet part of a tragic movie.
"Hey, are you alright?" Ken asked when he approached the swinging eon. Latias didn't answer as she continued swinging. The cool quiet breeze of the early evening began to settle in as the sun began its celestial cycle. "Do you want to talk about it, my queen?" Ken laughed lamely, hoping that bringing up times of when Latias was happy would cheer her up. Latias shook her head and continued to swing.
At that point, Latios knew what to say to his sister; the blue eon flew forward from his hiding place and caught Ken's eye and signaled him to switch places. The blue dragon nodded as Latios flew forth, trading places with the unsuccessful Ken. Before Latias could reject Latios' presence, he cut her off before she could say a word. 'Latias, I know you want to be alone right now but, I think you need to hear what I have to say.' Latios said. 'I remember Lorenzo telling me this a few years ago.' the blue eon cleared his throat and grabbed Latias' shoulders, making his eyes meet with the red eon's. 'He said, "Love is vaster than the ocean, and wider than the sky.".'Latios spoke. And with that said, the blue eon left his sister alone to think; silence became present in Latios' place.
…
"So, what do we do now?" Bianca asked as Latios returned to their tree. The blue eon shrugged, scratching the back of his neck as he flew. "Do we, continue your training, or do we hold Lorenzo's funeral?" Bianca asked, receiving no response from either dragon. There was silence, Bianca has never seen anyone act like this, ever... What was happening to everyone, why are they acting like this when they had to prepare for the fight with the shadow?
Suddenly, both of the blue eons began to part, and drift away in opposite directions while Bianca desperately tried to stop them, "What do you think you guys are doing! You're supposed to be training, not moping around like a bunch of kids!" she cried. This wasn't supposed to happen! Where was the determination? Where was the courage, and the excitement in saving everyone! Where was the happy ending...
Latios and Ken were almost out of her grasp when a being popped out from behind the tree, the creaking of the swing seemed to stop. 'Where do you think you're going?' Latias asked rhetorically, stopping the two dragons in their paths. There was a short pause before Latios and Ken turned around, shocked to see Latias floating before them.
As they turned around, they both noticed her mixed features. Her eyes were still red and puffy, but the amber coloring of her iris burned with blazing determination. Her body appeared physically exhausted as her shoulders drooped slightly as well as her posture, but she was smiling, like she would always do when she was about to pull a prank or tease somebody; she had her mischievous smile on.
"Latias!" Bianca gasped happily, ecstatic that her best friend was finally her old self after a long, long time. Nobody said a single word after that, again, silence was the only thing that stood as their communication. They all smiled back at the mischievous looking Latias, sneering happily with sharp eyes.
…
Just a few minutes back...
"Love is vaster than the ocean, and wider than the sky.".'
"What is brother talking about? Ash is the only one for me! Isn't he?" Latias thought desperately in her mind, secretly watching her brother fly away toward a nearby tree. "If Ash and I aren't meant to be, then who would it be? What is Latios trying to tell me!' the red eon cried in her thoughts. The intense feeling in Latias' mind grew as the pressure began to build on her body, she felt dizzy and she could hardly keep swinging; she felt like she was going to pass out.
A miniscule thought appeared in the back of Latias' mind, it was the kind of thought that once you pick at it for half a second, it grows into an all out, mind mixing predicament. 'What if, I don't really love Ash?' Latias said quietly to herself; the surprising part about that statement was that Latias had said it without her consent, her subconscious just blurted it out.
"What shall we do, my Queen?"...
…
'Come on my knight in shining armor.' Latias giggled, 'You too, the best friend in the world!' the red eon grinned, 'And let's not forget gay boy!' Latias smirked as mischievously as she could. Latios didn't even grind his teeth at hearing his politically controversial nickname, he simply smiled along with Bianca and Ken. 'Let's get some training done!' Latias fist pumped as everyone else cheered along. Incredible, Latios was amazed at how his sister presented herself; this was the first time he has seen Latias this resilient.
Somewhere out in the world, well, maybe not even part of the world, somebody was watching; they were smiling at the strength and mature realization that their little Latias had presented. Not visible to any being on the Earth, besides to each other, an elderly man and a blue dragon stood beside the red eon. "She sure has grown a lot since our time." the elderly man chuckled as he placed his hand on the dragon's shoulder. The blue eon simply nodded in agreement as their translucent images began to fade away.
This was it, training! The twins were determined to show their true potential despite the unfair advantage that Ken had. They first practiced on the necessary basics. They honed their skills by perfecting their signature moves, Luster Purge and Mist Ball. Since Bianca obviously had no power of her own, she was in charge of feeding the eons as well as setting up any targets used for practice. The first one up was Latias, who was eager to improve her respective move. Ken taught Latias to condense her energy to unnatural levels and keep her Mist Ball stable for a set amount of time.
After two days of intense practice, Latias was able to skillfully and powerfully use her signature move. To test out her improvement, Latias went into a battle stance and harnessed the natural energy around her body. Her power was so intense, the mere presence of her Mist Ball began to disintegrate the grass below her; creating a crater about five feet deep. The unnatural condensing of the pure energy in the red eon's claws created immense friction in the oxygen and hydrogen molecules, making the air around her steam at blistering temperatures. And in an instant, Latias shot her Mist Ball at Ken, who struggled at deflecting the volatile ball of energy sucking power up into the sky. A few unnoticeable sparks of black energy shot out of Latias' claws...
During those two days of training, Latios went on his own to practice his other abilities. Within his short amount of time, Latios had perfected his aim with his Luster Purge; he was able to hit a defenseless can of soda that was placed by Bianca, from a quarter of a mile away. And with the quick help of Ken, Latios was able to hit a coin that was sent flying at blinding speeds right in between the crowed forest of the garden.
Then it was Latios' turn to strengthen his Luster Purge. Within half a day, the blue eon learned to store more energy more swiftly into a dense ball of power. Latios' power was so incredible, that not only did he tear out an enormous chunk of ground out of the earth, but he caused Latias and Bianca to back away a fair distance to get out of the extreme energy pressure. When Latios shot off his respective move, it caused the few molecules of hydrogen in the air to come to a boil as it flew toward Ken. As the beam of energy was deflected off of Ken's psychic shield, it managed to create a miniscule crack in his defense.
…
At the start of their training...
"This is taking way too long, at this rate they'll be sure to sense my presence." the shadow muttered underwater. Quickly, the shadow sent a signal to his minion, and Giovanni responded within a few seconds after traveling about fifteen miles.
"What is it?" Giovanni spat as he sloppily knelt before his superior.
"Help me with this." the shadow ordered as the former boss obeyed. The underling quickly added his power to the glowing black sphere as it began to form into a human body. Within a few hours the Marauder's body was fully formed, except for a few changes to his physical features. Disappointingly, the Iron Masked Marauder looked exactly like Giovanni; black body, black fire-like aura, red eyes, and a white grin.
"Well, well, well. Looks like you're taking orders now, Giovanni." the Marauder laughed, Giovanni remained silent. "I'm not going to thank you mysterious shadow for saving me; I never asked you to." the Marauder said as he stretched his limbs. "Hey wait, you're presence. You're the same shadow that that pathetic little crap had!" the Marauder gasped. At this, the shadow gave the former elite a grim stare and began sucking the energy from the Marauder's body. The elite fell to the bottom of the underwater cave as the shadow stopped; the Marauder was breathing heavily as he began to cough.
"This pathetic little crap brought you back to life, and he can also take the life away from you." the shadow said in an intimidating tone as he towered over the elite. "I'm technically the same as that so called piece of crap, since he was my host." the shadow muttered. Strangely enough, the shadow was right, he had the same features as Ken. He even had a small white scar at the corner of his right eye that hadn't been noticed until now. The shadow seemed slightly better after taking his subordinate's energy, but he was still overly exhausted. "We're leaving." the shadow announced as the Marauder regained his composure.
The three shadows stealthily left the island and retreated back to the remains of Team Rocket HQ, the birthplace of the shadow...
…
"Since the the shadow uses, well, dark energy, our psychic won't be of much use when we are fighting him." Ken informed as the group was on their break. It's been five days since the start of their training, and each and everyone of them, except for Bianca, was dead tired. They've been training nonstop for five days straight, only taking four hour rests out of the twenty that they trained. Ken had taught Latios and Latias to become creative in using their psychic since they couldn't use it directly on the shadow. He taught the twins to use their psychic as a defense, such as using anything around them to block incoming attacks, or sending objects at their targets.
Then the blue dragon came up with an idea in using their signature techniques as power raising buffers. But the only way Ken thought of to use their move's energy was to ingest it... as they ingested their fully powered techniques, they gained incredible power.
An immense pink aura surrounded Latias as her eyes turned the same shining color as her aura. What appeared as pink steam, oozed out of the red eon's body; but it was really her body's inability to contain the immense power in herself. And finally, Latias' jet-like wings expanded ten-fold, her wings were also the same color as her aura. Latios and Ken had similar transformations, their jet-like wings expanded to the same length. Their pointed ears expanded slightly with the same light blue color that filled their wings and eyes.
After expelling their energy Latias began to giggle, 'Your ears looked so funny!' the red eon giggled along with Bianca. Both dragons sweatdropped as they ignored Latias' remark.
"I don't know if we're ready or not, but, this is all we have right now so we have to make the most of it during our fight." Ken said, looking down at his claws as he slightly flexed them. The others nodded in agreement as they decided to take a well deserved rest. They flew to Bianca's house and slept on the relieving beds in Bianca's and the guest's room. Latias and Bianca slept in Bianca's room while Latios and Ken slept in the guest room.
'Good luck gay boy!' Latias winked before Latios closed the door. Luckily for Latias, her brother was too tired to retort to her embarrassing nickname. "Huh, funny. I kinda wish I was in Latios' place..." thought Latias. "Do I really have feelings for, him? Does he still, like me as well? What if it doesn't work out like what happened with Ash and I." these thoughts continued to peck at the red eon's mind.
…
"Love is vaster than the ocean, and wider than the sky."
…
Yay! Filler chapter! Haha I got the idea of the power thing from Sinnoh League Victors xD well, I think it was from that? Well anyway please review and tune in next time on Remembering an Old Friend!